[Campaign] Seattle Underground

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I'm hesitant to post my campaign info -- the existing campaign threads are so enjoyable, it's a little intimidating. But, I've encouraged other people to post their campaigns, however they may feel about the quality. So, here goes. First, I'll lay out the world, then some important NPCs, then I'll post PC synopses.

 

I almost put this in Dark Champions, as the world is more realistic than Champions four-color, but it has powers and magic, so I decided this would be the best place.

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It's Seattle -- only not...

 

The city of Seattle, and the world it inhabits, reflects our world. I use real locations, real streets, and real public figures for peripheral public figures. I create from whole cloth any major NPC the characters will interact with, from business tycoons to federal agents to the Seattle chief of police. I used Microsoft and Weyerhaeuser, but invented new board members to interact with the PCs, and also to tie them into a fictional dynastic family I created to live in Seattle.

 

The big difference between the game world and the real world is that there are a few people out there with weak (by Champions standards) powers. There is a conspiracy (of course) where these people are captured, discredited, or otherwise suppressed to maintain the status quo.

 

I was originally going to have these powers be primarily mutations, with some martial arts "chi" powers, and a rare, ritual style magical system. Then one of the players referred me to the "Bob Howard - Laundry" series by Charles Stross. I bought "On her Majesty's Occult Service" which had all of that in one hardback, and enjoyed the magic system. Basically, a new form of mathematics allows people to channel energy from other dimensions to do stuff, or summon creatures (usually Cthuloid). He played "Johnny London" a Laundry field operative left out in the cold after a bureaucratic reshuffling, so this type of magic has played a big part so far.

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U.S. Government Institutions

 

The U.S government has a few very low key departments dealing with the abnormal, with little overlap. (For organizations around the world, see Global Organizations) For unofficial occult groups in the U.S., see here.

 

The Department of Defense has the most involvement in dealing with unusual occurrences, with several divisions tasked with various responsibilities. Division 37 of the DoD is the main player in this area, with top secret departments tasked with acquiring Aberrations (as they call any thing with abnormal abilities, particularly if coupled with inhuman features), studying them, and replicating their abilities. They are kept separate from Division 23, which deals with cybernetics and other ultra tech experiments, though there is occasionally sharing of information when an Aberration exhibits technological abilities (cyberpathy, electrokinesis, etc.) or requires unusual measures to ensure satisfactory containment. There are occasional dealings with Division 33, which handles occult menaces, but this division is generally regarded as a joke. Two departments of interest are DARC and HOPI, both part of Division 37.

 

Marginally competing with the DoD is the CIA's Project Starline, which concentrates on coordinated remote viewing, a structured approach to clairvoyance, and more rarely remote influence, a form of long range telepathic interference. Unlike Division 37, all participants are nominally volunteers, although a good number are in the program due to issues dealing with "real life" after being overwhelmed by their extra-sensory abilities. Project Starline was started in the late sixties as Project Center Lane and was a joint project with the DoD, although the CIA operatives had no knowledge of Division 37, believing instead they were dealing with a division of Army Intelligence. It was reorganized in the mid seventies as Project Grill Flame with a greater influence on RI, then became Project Starline in 1984 when the DoD severed ties to concentrate on its internal programs. Project Starline has a long history with Stanford and the Stanford Research Institute. The relationship is kept low profile but is technically not classified, though any results are top secret.

 

The FBI is currently suffering from a bout of pragmatism at the highest levels, and as such, there are only two people tasked with investigating abnormal occurrences out of a basement office in Virginia.

 

Finally, the U.S. Marshals Service has some knowledge that there are unusual individuals out there. They don't have a special unit to deal with these individuals, but they do have procedures to funnel "unusual" cases to certain Marshals for appropriate response. They do not procure abnormals for study, they only apprehend escaped federal prisoners that occasionally aren't quite human. It is, however, a moot point since almost all abnormals they apprehend get transferred to United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) in Dugway (ADX-Dugway) a Federal "supermax" facility southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah which, unbeknownst to the U.S. Marshals Service, is actually a front for HOPI.

 

It may seem that the existence of superhuman and other creatures is a rather open secret what with all of the people in these different departments running around trying to capture them. In actuality, few know the full truth, while the rest just follow orders and file paperwork.

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Division 37

 

The Department of Defense has the most involvement in dealing with unusual occurences, with several divisions tasked with various responsibilities. Division 37 of the DoD is the main player in this area, with top secret departments tasked with acquiring Aberrations (as they call any thing with abnormal abilities, particularly if coupled with inhuman features), studying them, and replicating their abilities. They are kept separate from Division 23, which deals with cybernetics and other ultra tech experiments, though there is occasionally sharing of information when an Aberration exhibits technological abilities (cyberpathy, electrokinesis, etc.) or requires unusual measures to ensure satisfactory containment. There are occasional dealings with Division 33, which handles occult menaces, but this division is generally regarded as a joke.

 

 

 

Division 37 has few institutional ties, tending to hire scientists that have proven themselves in other highly classified positions within the DoD such as Division 23, but there is a small genetic research program at Dartmouth that feeds information and personnel into Division 37.There are two departments of particular interest: DARC and HOPI.

 

Members of DARC (Department of Aberration Retrieval and Containment) acquire information on any reported display of paranormal individuals, compile dossiers, then capture any target deemed to be a threat or to display potentially useful abilities. They deal in the concrete, playing down any hint of "mystical" in the targets' abilities, and also tend to discount "softer" targets like telepaths, precognitives, or mediums as charlatans. Exceptions include any telepath displaying the ability to interface with or directly control technology, or those exhibiting Mind Control abilities.

 

When DARC has acquired a new wild talent, it is transferred to another, even more secretive department within Division 37 called HOPI (Human Operative Potential Initiative). The directive of this department is to discover how these individuals do what they do -- and replicate it. HOPI is the source of the DoD's few stable super soldiers, as Division 23's cybernetics program has not yet produced a cyborg that reliably exhibits any useful abilities while avoiding crippling mental and/or physical disabilities.

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Division 33

 

Created toward the end of WW2 as the Occult Defense Department (ODD) when the U.S. joined other world powers to deal with the remains of the Nazi experiments into the occult, it changed names to avoid a stigma of being related to the occult. Division 33 was at one point a formidable force, with teams following both domestic and international lines of interest through the early 60's. However, due partially to the distance from Germany, but more to the threat of Soviet expansion, the U.S. gradually de-emphasized these endeavors and by the end of the 70's Division 33 exclusively dealt with domestic investigation. The Seekers of the Golden Truth unsuccessfully tried to infiltrate Division 33 in the 60's and 70's, so, in the 80's, agents of the Seekers switched tactics and tried to kill Division 33 by reorganizing several departments and diverting its entire budget into the Star Wars program. This nearly succeeded, but an influential Philosopher of Thoth managed to subtly divert this reorganization and Division 33 managed to survive with a minimal budget for over a decade by disappearing into a bureaucratic shuffle. It was discovered in 1997 due to an audit of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Agents of the Seekers again tried to kill it, but this time a junior senator from Washington, Edgar Wallingford, managed to intervene and maintain a minimum budget. It has been ten years now, and Division 33 has managed to hang on with five field offices (Seattle, WA; San Francisco, CA; Baton Rouge, LA; Chicago, IL; and Bangor, ME), the main office in D.C. and 12 actual, trained agents. Fortunately, two of these agents are Philosophers of Thoth, who can call in favors when the chips are down.

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Division 23

 

Division 23 was created during the Manhattan Project, and is the group that deals with unusually advanced technology created by government experiments, recovered from "crash sites" (which may actually be aborted dimensional incursions) or acquired/recovered from the lab of the occasional brilliant eccentric like Nikola Tesla. Some of their tech may actually be a melding of magic and technology, but they will not believe any such assertions. This is particularly true of items that they appropriated from Division 33, which were for the most part recovered from Nazi labs after WW2. They are influenced, but not actually controlled, by the Seekers of the Golden Truth.

 

While Division 23 was created during the Manhattan Project, the core of their work for the past sixty years centers upon certain journals and prototypes acquired after the death of Nikola Tesla on January 4th, 1943. Only 23 crates of documents and prototypes were officially discovered after Tesla's death, but rumors persist that more than forty crates were seized by the FBI in the days after Tesla's passing, including a small metal box taken from the safe of the New Yorker Hotel by men in thick protective gear in the small hours of January 10th. Scientists at Division 23 have spent the last 60 years trying to understand Tesla's theories and how his prototypes work. Every year, they get a little closer to where Tesla was in 1943.

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Occult Conspiracies...

 

There are numerous organizations in the U.S. that purport to deal with the occult, but only two hold any true power.

 

The Philosophers of Thoth are a relatively small organization within the Scottish Rite Freemasons, which holds knowledge of true magic. They deal primarily in summoning and dealing with spirits, and in extreme circumstances extra-dimensional entities. They borrow heavily from Hermeticism, though they follow the Egyptian tradition and refer to Hermes Trismegistus as Thoth. There are relatively few members, approximately 2000 in the U.S., but they are dedicated to guarding against incursions. Due to their limited numbers they frequently work toward key government or military positions to watch for any subtle infiltrations, and to monitor any projects that may puncture through the dimensional barriers.

 

The Seekers of the Golden Truth isn't such a philanthropic organization, though it started innocently enough. In the 1840's a well educated French immigrant to the United States, Henri Michel Reutenauer, grew dissatisfied with the Masonic Lodge of which he was a member. He decided to start his own group, and called it The Seekers of the Golden Truth. He dug into the cultures of ancient Mesopotamia and discovered new meaning within certain rituals recently discovered at Egyptian and Sumerian archaeological digs funded by the British Museum and certain British "Adventurer Clubs." After Henri's death in 1911, this group lost focus, consisting primarily of dabblers who didn't truly believe in any power behind the rituals they practiced. This changed after World War II, when there was an influx of mysterious, wealthy Caucasian men from Brazil. Soon these former Nazis (see the Nazi Menace) had taken control and corrupted the organization, turning it to their own purposes and sending out agents to start small seed organizations and new age bookstores, frequently using a variation on the Rosicrucian name. These smaller groups then feed truly talented individuals up into the core organization. The Seekers are now a group of powerful alchemists and hermetic mages whose modus operandi consists of tempting those in power by using magic to provide whatever the target may wish. The Seekers then use this person to gain access to sensitive materials, money, magic, or technology. They have deeply penetrated the U.S. government, but it is unknown just how pervasive the corruption truly is.

 

The government has an official response to occult menaces, called Division 33. Created toward the end of WW2 as the Occult Defense Department (ODD) when the U.S. joined other world powers to deal with the remains of the Nazi experiments into the occult, it changed names to avoid a stigma of being related to the occult. Once a formidable force against any occult menace, it has been crippled in recent decades by the machinations of the Seekers.

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Occulus

 

Johnny London's player wrote up this document about the European occult agencies, basically straight from the Bob Howard series.

 

==============================

 

 

OCCULUS (Occult Control Coordination Unit Liaison, Unconventional Situations)

 

OCCULUS is the umbrella, administrative organization created after the ratification of EUINTEL, the European Union Intelligence Treaty, specifically the “unexplained phenomena”-related Helsinki Protocols. OCCULUS is designed to provide inter-agency liaison protocols for the EU members, allowing the various intelligence agencies to share information and to provide protocols for agents to operate across the EU without creating an international incident. OCCULUS also maintains a military staff drawn from the special forces of all member agencies and trained in rapid deployment to reality-deficient hot zones.

 

OCCULUS in the US: Most OCCULUS member agencies consider the United States hostile territory, due to the strong influence of the Seekers of the Golden Truth and the weakness of any internal government agency (with the exception of DARC, which views OCCULUS with suspicion). As such, OCCULUS maintains a fairly strong but highly covert presence in the US in an attempt to head off any significant occult threats.

 

Although most EU countries provide support to OCCULUS, the most active members are as follows:

 

The Laundry: The British Special Operations Executive was officially disbanded in 1945; however, SOE Department Q was spun off into a separate intelligence agency. While it has no known official name, it is known as The Laundry since its original headquarters were fronted by Capital Laundry. The Laundry is one of the most active agencies in OCCULUS, and maintains one of the largest organizations in Europe.

 

The Laundry in the Pacific Northwest: The Laundry classifies the US as hostile territory; as such, all Laundry agents in the US must be field-certified operatives. Fortunately, Canada’s strong ties with the Commonwealth have provided the Laundry with secure headquarters close by. Most of the administrative and analytical tasks in North America are handled from their offices in Canada, where the Laundry maintains very strong diplomatic ties with the Canadian Mounted Police, Zed Division (headquartered above the magical vent in Lake Louise). The Laundry is able to draw on both covert special ops Mountie support and limited SAS support in the event of major dimensional incursions in North America.

 

The Laundry’s North America West Coast operations are headquartered in Vancouver, BC, about three hours north of Seattle. The Laundry maintains field cells in San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, and Las Vegas. A recent shakeup in the West Coast office (precluded by a nasty interdepartmental fight back home) has left the other OCCULUS members somewhat concerned, but Lydia Random, the new West Coast Director, seems to have everything well in hand.

 

Feheime Sicherheit Abteilung: The German domestic occult intelligence agency is more commonly referred as the Faust Force. Faust Force is mainly concerned with dealing with domestic intelligence and counterintelligence, and has recently included all “unexplained phenomena” under its umbrella. While its occult expertise is perhaps the most limited in OCCULUS, its technological and biotechnological expertise is unmatched.

 

Faust Force in the Pacific Northwest: The existence of the Seekers of the Golden Truth have led Faust Force to maintain a stronger presence in the US than one would expect from a domestic agency. Faust Force is extremely concerned about any mystic artifacts the Seekers may have smuggled out of Germany.

 

Faust Force has focused its efforts on infiltrating militia groups in the Pacific Northwest and in Texas, believing that the Seekers have strong ties to those groups. They draw strongly on the Laundry’s resources in Canada, since they do not have any comparable operational hubs in North America. Their operatives are mostly organized as three-person cell groups under deep cover. Faust Force currently has two groups known to be operating in the Washington area; Karl Nikloveitch (codename Drago) heads a group currently operating in and around Seattle.

 

AIVD: The Dutch General Intelligence and Security Office is a domestic counterespionage agency also tasked with maintaining the infamous artifacts and occult items amassed by Nazi Germany. AIVD’s main focus is securing and decommissioning dangerous artifacts; their vaults are considered the most secure in Europe.

 

AIVD in the Pacific Northwest: While the AIVD does not support field operations in the US, the FSA has asked for AIVD’s technical expertise and support in their ongoing actions against the Seekers of the Golden Truth. A few AIVD operatives, certified in field operations but classified as researchers, have obtained positions in various museums and libraries in the US. They are in place solely as advisors, and are instructed to withdraw in the face of any opposition.

 

DGSE: Direction Generale de la Securite Exterieure is the French agency concerned with Black File threats. Besides the Laundry, DGSE is the agency most concerned with patrolling outside their own borders, and they maintain permanent liaison positions with most other OCCULUS member countries.

 

DGSE in the Pacific Northwest: The French are more concerned with maintaining security on the Continent, but they maintain a few operatives in the US simply because everyone else does. Their strongest presence is in Quebec, where their analysts spend most of their time watching what the other agencies do. Due to the recent shakeup in the Laundry, Quebec has asked DGSE headquarters for additional field resources for their US division.

 

Overseas Occult Directive: This new Irish agency is concerned with external; the Irish Ley Line Defense Agency maintains domestic security and boasts perhaps the strongest occult defenses in Europe. The OOD is very active, but does not have the resources of its larger brethren.

 

OOD in the Pacific Northwest: The OOD do not have the personnel to maintain an overly strong presence in the US, leaving North America to the other OCCULUS agencies. However, the OOD has a strong interest in the Fae, and reports of Fae activity in Seattle have led the OOD to authorize a field operative and a covert IDF team to operate in the Seattle area.

 

Canadian Mounted Police, Zed Division: CMP Z Division is not a member of OCCULUS; however, they are OCCULUS’ main ally in North America. CMPZ was organized after an almost-disastrous otherdimensional incursion in the Lake Louise area was stopped only with the aid of OCCULUS operatives. CMPZ was formed from Special Emergency Response Teams (counter-terrorism, SERT) re-tasked to deal with occult menaces. In 1993, SERT was officially spun off to Joint Task Force 2 (Canadian Special Forces), while CMPZ was combined with CMPF (mutant and psionic investigation). CMPZ now deals with all “Black File” cases, and can draw from both specially trained CMP and JTF2 units.

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Nazi Menace

 

A resurgent Nazi menace is going to figure as a big evil motivator in my campaign. They are behind the Seekers of the Golden Truth, and in my campaign world their rise to power before and during WW2 was fueled by the very misery and death they spread (inspired by the novelette "Thor Meets Captain America" by David Brin). And not only did they harness energy from the misery in the concentration camps, they harvested the souls of those that died and rendered them down into a usable energy source. Here is a background blurb I gave Johnny London's player, since as an OCCULUS agent, Johnny would know this side of WW2:

 

===================================

 

The Nazi's left many new inventions and scientific breakthroughs, most of which they destroyed in a "scorched earth" policy at the end of the war before the Allies could recover and study them. Some of these were more than just technology, they incorporated what can only termed as magic as part of their design. They were researched and produced under the utmost secrecy, and some escaped at the end of the war.

 

General Dr. Hans Kammler was a well educated engineer in Germany when he joined the Nazi party in the early thirties. His superiors recognized his genius at administration and organization, his brutal efficiency, and his complete disregard for the health and well-being of "lesser creatures" and he rose quickly through the ranks. He was soon a General in the SS, tasked with building and administering numerous concentration camps, including Auschwitz, and he designed factories to best leverage and secure the copious amount of slave labor necessary to fuel the war effort. He was also the director for the Rocketry program, and was closely involved in the development of the V-2 rocket.

 

As if this weren't enough, he acted as Himmler's bridge between the mystical and the technical. When he designed the camps and factories, they were engineered to harvest the energy of all that misery and death, and feed that energy through a series of special circuits he designed and called "Kammler Rectifiers" to harness and store it for later use. These circuits rely upon the "Tessman Tube," a vacuum tube that integrated magic and technology.

 

At the end of the war, he was publicly wanted as the architect of the concentration camps and factories, and secretly he was wanted since he was second only to Himmler in the breadth of his knowledge of the Nazi's mystical endeavors. Unfortunately, he disappeared. Some say he was murdered, either by the Nazi's so the Allies couldn't get his knowledge, or by the relatives of his victims. Others say he committed suicide rather than face justice. But a few insist that he and a few others escaped in an experimental, long range cargo jet, and that they took the plans and prototypes for the most advanced devices with them.

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More immediate threats

 

The Seekers of the Golden Truth and other left over Nazi menaces are a little high level, meant to be challenges down the road. I outlined some criminal organizations in Seattle to be more immediate threats for the characters. There are small, neighborhood gangs, and then there are the big three: the Bratva, the Golden Lotus Gang, and the Yakuza.

 

The Bratva is the Russian Mob, and is led by Vladimir Lem, a short, slight man in his fifties with a full head of dark hair and deepset dark eyes. He is an old hand at crime and both respected and feared by his men. Known for astounding rewards for loyalty, he is equally infamous for brutal retribution against any treason and is sometimes referred to as "The Impaler" by enemy gangs due to his terrifying hands-on interrogation techniques.

 

The Golden Lotus Gang is a loose amalgamation of sub-gangs, with the primary sources for these sub-gangs hailing from mainland China, Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand, and Cambodia. They banded together in the 90's after the being decimated by Russians individually. The gangs operate under the guidance of the Council of Golden Wisdom, aka the Golden Council, with representatives from the major gangs. The smaller gangs have mostly aligned by nationality, though some independent operators exist, generally neighborhood gangs of 10 members or so. Each gang has two representatives on the council, regardless of the gang's size, a General and a Lieutenant. These representatives usually aren't the leaders of the gangs, instead just proxies, and whatever system or heirarchy each gang uses, in council they are called Generals and Lieutenants for consistency. The gang as a whole is led by a Mountain Master, Lee Hong, who has shown wisdom and skill to present a united front to the Russians while allowing a measure of autonomy to the gangs.

 

The Hirota-gumi are the Yakuza presence in Seattle, and are affiliated with Yamaguchi-gumi in Japan. Due to affiliations with the largest Yakuza organization in the world, the Hirota-gumi had the ability to resist the Russian invasion in the 90's. It also helped that the Russians concentrated on smuggling and drugs at the time, while the Hirota-gumi classically concentrated on gambling, prostitution, and extortion. The head of the Hirota-gumi is Noboru "Sammy" Shinoda. His father, Kazuo Shinoda, was a cousin to Kenichi Shinoda, current godfather of Yamaguchi-gumi, and dealt with the first Russian incursions. Sammy loves life, and frequently does business at one of the strip clubs or massage parlors that the Yakuza owns.

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NPC's of interest

 

I named the heads of the organizations, but the PCs are more likely to interact with the enforcers or assassins from these groups, so I fleshed these NPCs out more. I will post one from each group.

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Alexander Solonik

 

Vladimir Lem, head of the Russian mob in Seattle, has a veritable army at his control to throw at his enemies, but when stealth and surgical precision are required he calls in the Scorpion. Very few know the Scorpion's name or his past, even Vlad doesn't know the whole truth, but many in the underworld fear his ability as an assassin. Primarily a sniper, he will go close for a kill if necessary.

 

The Scorpion's name is Alexander Solonik (based on a real person, see his wiki entry here). A former member of Spetsnaz (Russian Special Forces) known in Russia during the nineties as "Superkiller" for his ability as a sniper, something in Greece in 1997 forced him to fake his own death and disappear, eventually ending up in Seattle. As a member of Russia's Special Forces he is highly skilled in all the arts of combat, but truly excelled at firearms. Possessing excellent vision and a steady hand, he was one of Russia's top snipers, and his ambidexterity allowed him to develop an effective two pistol fighting style for more immediate combat.

 

However, his "edge" comes not just from his training like some members of the Yakuza or Golden Lotus Gang, but rather from his early years amidst terrible pollution. He came down with a mysterious fever at 3 years of age and almost died, but recovered and ever since has been resistant to every disease and poison he has encountered (LS: Terr. Bio Agents and Poisons). He is also hard to keep down (Rec. 10) and able to heal at an incredible rate (Regen: 1 bod/day [no limbs adder, no rez adder]; in addition to the 10/month from his recovery, this means he heals 4 body every 3 days)

 

I didn't create a character sheet for him, as the characters are more likely to interact with the Asian gangs.

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Chan Ho Nam

 

Lee Hong of the Golden Lotus Gang has an enforcer and head bodyguard, Chan Ho Nam, a master martial artist from China. Little hard evidence exists of any extraordinary abilities, but he is feared by all the gangs for his reputed ability to kill with a touch. It should be noted that he and Kenchiro "Ken" Sumitani of the Yakuza trained in China under Bak Mei, grandmaster of White Eyebrow Kung-Fu, for a few years, and won't come into a direct confrontation. It is rumored, however, that the two will occasionally meet in an out of the way abandoned lot to spar.

 

One PC met Chan briefly, but I haven't fully ironed out his character sheet yet. Any input would be helpful. For instance, I know he needs more skills, probably something with biology and history or Buddhism.

Val    Char    Cost    Roll    Notes

20    STR    10    13-    Lift 400.0kg; 4d6; [2]
25    DEX    45    14-    OCV 8 DCV 8
20    CON    20    13-
15    BODY    10    12-    
13    INT    3    12-    PER Roll 12-
18    EGO    16    13-    ECV: 6
15    PRE    5    12-    PRE Attack: 3d6
8    COM    -1    11-

6    PD    2        Total: 6/12 PD (0/6 rPD)
4    ED    0        Total: 4/10 ED (0/6 rED)

4    SPD    5        Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12

8    REC    0
40    END    0
35    STUN    0

Total Characteristic Cost: 127

Movement: Running: 10" / 20"
Swimming: 4" / 8"
Leaping: 6" / 12"

Martial Arts: White Eyebrow KungFu

Maneuver OCV DCV Notes
4 Martial Block +2 +2 Block, Abort
4 Martial Disarm -1 +1 Disarm; 40 STR to Disarm
4 Martial Dodge -- +5 Dodge, Affects All Attacks, Abort
4 Martial Escape +0 +0 45 STR vs. Grabs
3 Martial Grab -1 -1 Grab Two Limbs, 40 STR for holding on
4 Martial Strike +0 +2 8d6 Strike
3 Martial Throw +0 +1 6d6 +v/5, Target Falls
4 Nerve Strike -1 +1 3d6 NND (rigid armor over vitals)
5 Offensive Strike -2 +1 10d6 Strike
5 Defensive Block +1 +3 Block, Abort
5 Defensive Strike +1 +3 6d6 Strike
4 Reversal -1 -2 45 STR to Escape; Grab Two Limbs
8 +2 HTH Damage Class(es)



Powers
15 Physical Damage Reduction, Resistant, 50% (30 Active Points); STUN Only (-1/2) must be aware of attack (-1/4) non persistent (-1/4) 0
7  Energy Damage Reduction, Resistant, 25% (15 Active Points); STUN Only (-1/2) must be aware of attack(-1/4) non persistent(-1/4) 0
15 Negative Combat Skill Levels (-3 to opponent's DCV) 1

Perks
3 Reputation: Feared HTH Combatant (A medium-sized group) 11-, +3/+3d6

Talents
12 Combat Luck (6 PD/6 ED)
15 Danger Sense (self only, out of combat, Intuitional) 12-

Skills
3 Acrobatics 14-
3 Breakfall 14-
3 Climbing 14-
3 Sleight Of Hand 14-
3 Shadowing 12-
3 Stealth 14-
3 Streetwise 12-
7 Analyze: Style 14-


Total Powers & Skill Cost: 155

Total Cost: 282

200+ Disadvantages

10 Psychological Limitation: Keeps his word (Common, Moderate)
15 Hunted: Triads 11- (Mo Pow, NCI, Watching)
20 Hunted: Police 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Harshly Punish)
37 Experience Points

Total Disadvantage Points: 282

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Ken Sumitani

 

Ken Sumitani is an assassin and enforcer for Sammy Shinoda. Ken and Sammy don't get along very well, as Ken sees Sammy as the dissolute son of a great man, and Sammy thinks Ken needs to get a life. Ken traveled a great deal in his youth, seeking martial arts instruction all around Asia, and as such is a fearsome hand to hand combatant. He spent some years with Chan Ho Nam's master Bak Mei learning White Eyebrow Kung-fu, and as a result the two will not fight. Surpassing his unarmed prowess, however, is his skill with a katana. Ken is a kenjutsu master and when given the option will fight with one of the katanas from his extensive and priceless collection. The pride of his collection is Yoshitsune, an ancient blade he discovered in a Seattle veteran's collection of war memorabilia. The veteran claimed to have found in in the street after WW2 while in Japan during his tour of duty. Ken's research indicates it is over 1000 years old and is a Japanese national treasure that should be returned to Japan, but he just can't make himself part with it.

 

 

This character sheet was inspired from different sources, and I believe some of it came from a character sheet I saw on Susano's website (http://surbrook.devermore.net/index/). As a result, it might be a bit of a mash, and I apologize, but hopefully it gets everything basically correct. Again, please post any opinions, corrections, or improvements.

Val CHA Cost Roll Notes
18 STR 8 13- Lift 303.1 kg; 3 1/2d6 HTH Damage [4]
23 DEX 52 14- OCV:  8/DCV:  8
20 CON 20 13-
13 BODY 6 12-
16 INT 6 12- PER Roll 13-
16 EGO 12 12- ECV:  5
20 PRE 10 13- PRE Attack:  4d6
13 COM 2 12-

7 PD 3  Total:  7 PD (0 rPD)
6 ED 2  Total:  6 ED (0 rED)
4 SPD 7  Phases:  3, 6, 9, 12
8 REC 0
40 END 0
32 STUN 0 Total Characteristic Cost:  124

Movement: Running: 6"/12"
Leaping: 3"/6"
Swimming: 2"/4"



Cost Powers & Skills
Martial Arts:  Kenjutsu
Maneuver OCV DCV Damage
5 Cut +1 +3 Weapon  Strike
4 Evade -- +5 Dodge, Affects All Attacks, Abort
4 Lightning Stroke +2 +0 Weapon +2 DC Strike
4 Parry +2 +2 Block, Abort
5 Slash -2 +1 Weapon +4 DC Strike
0 Weapon Element:  Blades

18 Katana:  HKA 1 1/2d6 (2 1/2d6 w/STR), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2);OAF (-1), Real Weapon (-1/4) plus +1 with OCV; OAF (-1), Real Weapon (-1/4)

4 Blur Of Blades:  Autofire (3 shots; +1/4) for up to 35 Active Points of HKA; Extra Time (Full Phase, -1/2), OIF (sword of opportunity; -1/2), END 1

7 Can Cut Bullets From The Air:  Missile Deflection (Bullets & Shrapnel); OAF (Katana; -1)

9 A Blur Of Motion:  Running +6" (12" total), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2); Only To Make Half Moves In Combat (-1)

3 Sharp Senses:  +1 PER with all Sense Groups

10 Physical Damage Reduction, Resistant, 25%(15), must be aware of attack (-1/4) non-persistent (-1/4)



Perks
5 Fringe Benefit:  Yakuza Enforcer
2 Reputation:  Unstoppable (The Yakuza) 14-, +2/+2d6
2 Reputation:  Unstoppable (Golden Lotus Gang) 14-, +2/+2d6
1 Money:  Well Off

Talents
10 Follow-Through Attack
7 Deadly Blow:  +1d6 ([with katana])



Skills
12 +4 with Kenjutsu
2 +2 OCV With Slash With Katana
10 Unhittable In Combat:  +2 with DCV
10 Defense Maneuver I-IV
3 Breakfall 14-
3 Iajutsu:  Fast Draw (Blades) 14-
0 Language:  Japanese (idiomatic; literate)
5 Rapid Attack (HTH)
3 Stealth 14-
3 Streetwise 13-
2 TF:  Common Motorized Ground Vehicles
1 WF:  Blades

Disads:

10 Distinctive Features:  Style (Not Concealable; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Large Group)
10 Hunted:  Yakuza 11- (Mo Pow, NCI, Limited Geographical Area, Watching)
10 Hunted:  Seattle PD 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Limited Geographical Area, Arrest)
10 Hunted:  DARC 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Capture)
20 Psychological Limitation:  Loyal To The Yakuza (Very Common, Strong)
20 Psychological Limitation:  Yakuza Code Of Honor (Very Common, Strong)

[matrix3]

Re: [Campaign] Seattle Underground

 

Our PC's:

 

Johnny London: Based on Bob Howard of the Laundry series by Charles Stross. He has arcane knowledge, a small magic pool with gestures, incantations, and extra time limitations, and a techno-gizmo that provides hacking ability, a summon, or a good offensive punch. Is in a deep cover as a fringe journalist at the "Weekly Globe News" in Seattle.

 

Roger Stevens: From his background: "Captain Roger Stevens, formerly an Air Force pilot, joined NASA in early 2004 and eventually became a fully qualified mission specialist. Unfortunately, his career was cut short when his mission on the Space Shuttle Discovery went unexpectedly wrong. He was piloting the vessel when suddenly, flashing lights filled his field of vision, disorienting him and causing the first of his blackouts. He was revived by his mission commander, and was relieved of duty until the ship landed. None of his fellow astronauts saw the lights, and he was the only individual affected. He became convinced that Something Was Out There, and began to display random personality traits. After being released from the hospital from what was perceived for a nervous breakdown, he was deemed unfit for duty and discharged quietly." Military package, military contacts, and developed regeneration and armored skin (10 rPD) after seeing the lights. Blacks out if subjected to strobe lights. Is convinced "something's out there" and is the financial backer and two-fisted investigator for WGN.

 

Cody Standingbear: Burly American Indian from a Pacific Northwest tribe. Entered the armed forces after college, experimented on, went a little crazy and started seeing ghosts. Has tracking and survival skills, can sense spirits, has his grandfather's ghost as a contact, and various connections to groups living in the unexplored tunnels beneath Seattle. Joined WGN after encountering Johnny and Roger in the underground when they followed a teleporting kidnapper into the sewers.

 

 

Note: all characters took DARC or HOPI as a Hunted of some degree.

[matrix3]

The First Session

 

Johnny is monitoring the news services, when he learns that two days ago a bus transporting prisoners to a supermax prison, ADX-Dugway, southwest of Salt Lake City was attacked with military precision. A little data is only now being released to the media, but he gathers that a high powered sniper rifle took out the engine of the bus and the entourage, and canisters of some sort of gas were used for a screen and to subdue the guards and prisoners while one prisoner was extracted. It is unknown how many attackers there were, or how the attackers made their escape.

 

The power and precision of the attack is interesting, but Johnny also believes that ADX-Dugway is a front for HOPI and possibly the Seekers of the Golden Truth, a nefarious occult group his former agency has been investigating for decades. Johnny brings this report to the Roger's attention, who wants to immediately fly out to Salt Lake City for in depth investigation. Johnny gently reminds him that the budget for a paper with a circulation of 3000 does not include stipends for jet travel.

 

This debate is interrupted when four men enter their offices, one in a wheel chair. One of the men, short and wiry with dark hair, pulls a tarot deck out of his jacket and lays out a pattern on the floor while another, tall and solidly built with a buzzcut and Oakley's, scans the office. The wiry gentleman holds a card to the glass door, just as three black SUVs roll by slowly on the street.

 

There is a pause as the journalists and the new arrivals size each other up. Besides the two that Johnny and Roger already noticed, there is a ginger haired young man who looks a little peaked and a rail thin man in a wheel chair with dark hair in a high and tight cut. Johnny is especially interested in the man with the Tarot deck, using his Motorola Q to scan for magical energies. He detects that the attention of anyone outside would slide from one neighbor to the next without registering that his office separated the buildings. Roger was intrigued by the military stance of the tall fellow, and the poise and haircut of the man in the wheelchair, suspecting that the first was Army and the latter a Marine.

 

Johnny took another look at the man with ginger hair. They had done a little bit to change his look, but he definitely matched the convict that had been taken from the bus. He decided to play it smooth in an attempt to find out more about what happened, and smiled as he said, "Welcome to the offices of the Weekly Globe News. Can we help you with anything?"

 

"Yeah," Roger chipped in, "We can help hide you from the suits in the black SUVs."

 

Johnny resisted rolling his eyes.

 

"Hey, I know you guys," the wiry fellow said as he bounced forward to shake Johnny's hand. "It's OK, Jake, they're cool. They report on this sort of stuff all the time. I'm --"

 

"No names. And we leave as soon as it's clear."

 

"Eh, and you say I'm paranoid. Fine, I'm 'Tarot,' then, and he's 'Jake Danger.' Then there is 'HedKase' in the corner and 'BoneDaddy' in the wheelchair. We're just passing through."

 

Roger already blew the "take it easy and go smooth" route, so Johnny just came out and said, "Passing through from Salt Lake City?"

 

Jake gave him a sharp look, and noticed Roger's slightest tensing with a slight smirk.

 

"Hey, just come into the back office, and we can talk."

 

They all looked to Jake, who nodded. Once the pressure had ebbed a bit, people got along a little more amiably. Roger asked Jake about the rescue, comparing notes on weapons and tactics. Johnny asked Tarot about his magic, since Johnny's was numbers and formulae. Tarot demonstrated by spinning an illusion of a young woman with huge hair buns, "Help us Obi-Wan Kenobi." BoneDaddy didn't say much, but it did come out that he had been the sniper that took out the bus and escort vehicles. HedKase explained that he could interface with computers, so he had been captured.

 

He thought he was showing up for a prestigious research fellowship through Dartmouth, but HOPI had captured him and experimented. His powers blossomed beyond expectations, and he escaped, taking data with him. He had phoned his friends and had Moorhead, MN to meet them, when he had been recaptured. They headed to Seattle on their way to Canada so that they could corrupt the central database of experimental subjects, which was being held by a mysterious private corporation in Shoreline.

 

Secret government data? Held by a mysterious corporation in an apparently innocuous location? Johnny's nose starts twitching. "You know, we could probably lend you guys a hand if you want."

 

"Yeah, yeah, we'll email you if we decide we can use your help," Jake replied. "Now, is there a back way out of here?"

[matrix3]

Re: [Campaign] Seattle Underground

 

The PCs pointed their guests to a roll up cargo door in the back that led to a long alley that finally emptied into a small, little used street some distance away (a feature the PCs had written up as back story for their base). Then, Johnny thoroughly scanned the computers for any illicit tampering by hedKase. Detecting none, they researched their new friends, and the company that supposedly had the database of "Aberrations," Haldemann MicroNautics.

 

They discover that information is readily available on the whole group's backgrounds. hedKase is Edward Kase from Moorhead, MN. A gifted programmer and "White Hat" hacker since his early teens, he is now wanted for a laundry list of crimes, including electronic espionage, terrorism, and (of course) escaping from Federal custody. They soon find a website hedKase set up for his high school graduating class, with information on the rest of the group.

 

Jake Danger is Patrick Roberts, and a little digging shows that he was dishonorable discharged after attacking a superior officer. Roger calls up a contact to get more info, and finds that Jake Danger was probably in the right, since it was a "morally ambiguous situation," but the superior officer had family political connections, and he was lucky to avoid incarceration.

 

Tarot is aka Arthur Cushing, is a very normal individual, except he always seems to be near any "interesting" development. He won a car two days after his sixteenth birthday, only to have a frozen hog carcass fall out of the sky and demolish it in the middle of the night two weeks later. He won tickets to an exclusive concert, and then an insanely devoted PETA member wearing an explosive vest parachutes in and holds the entire concert hostage. Google news shows a dozen examples in the young man's life mixing implausibly good luck with equally outlandish bad luck, and this is in addition to the unusual Tarot card based magic he wields.

 

BoneDaddy is aka Bryan Holding, who they find joined the Marines after high school and became a highly skilled sniper. He was recently injured in Iraq when an enemy rocket dropped half a building on him. He was fortunately not paralyzed, but a spinal injury left him with less than 30% mobility in his legs.

 

Researching the company, they find that Haldemann MicroNautics is, basically, a big brain for rent, putting the "R" in "R&D" on a consulting basis for an eclectic range of clients. While companies that contract with Haldemann frequently have their own labs, and just need personnel to jumpstart or complete a project, Haldemann does have laboratories on their three campuses in the Seattle area that clients can use, in Shoreline, Redmond, and SeaTac. Haldemann specializes in electrical and optical engineering (microcircuitry and optical switching), but they also have labs and well-trained personnel for chemical engineering and genetics research. Haldemann does not actually manufacture more than a prototype, and rarely go beyond the planning stage before a client takes over full time.

 

n 1952, Henry Haldemann came to the U.S. from France, where he had worked with Matarre in the late 1940's on his development of the transistor (parallel to the Bell labs development), along with certain RADAR applications during WW2. He gained a contact with Boeing and started Haldemann MicroNautics in early 1954, working on integrated circuitry and improving the use of RADAR in the planes, as well as improving the jet engines in the 707. Much of this work was rolled into the inaugural 727 in 1963.

 

 

 

Following him from France was his wife, Sophia, a woman many years his junior. Reportedly brilliant in her own right, she provided an unknown amount of research behind the scenes for years before she left Henry and returned to France after apparently getting pregnant in 1965. There was no reason given for her return to Europe, though some say that she wanted to raise the child with "European sensibilities" and others said she returned home because Henry was neglectful or abusive. In 1972, it was reported that Sophia died in a car accident, and Henry took a few months off to be with the child he had never seen, a daughter named Patricia. He returned in early 1973, leaving Patricia in a boarding school. She apparently inherited the full measure of her parents' intelligence, eventually studying at top universities around the world, including Oxford, Cambridge, The Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, and the Tokyo Institute of Technology. She took over Haldemann MicroNautics in August of 2000 after her father's death.

 

The PCs suspected Seeker or Nazi involvement, but haven't discovered the full truth. They have discovered that Patricia doesn't show up on scrying or magical detection. The truth is that Henry Haldemann was really Heinrich Haldemann and didn't come from France, but rather Brazil by way of Morocco, Algeria, and then France. He was among the wave that took over the Seekers of the Golden Truth.

 

Also, Patricia and Sophia are the same person, created in a Nazi experiment in 1937, the result of early genetic engineering and magic. She has mental powers and a towering intellect, and is invisible to magic and mental awareness.

[matrix3]

Re: [Campaign] Seattle Underground

 

The PCs exhaust their resources for both hedKase and Co. and Haldemann, so they start looking into the black SUVs they saw cruise by looking for the guys. They find that a team of Federal agents in suits is looking for hedKase & Co., and using military contacts and good old journalism tricks they find out that the supervising agent is Agent Rembrandt. The PCs find that the Federal team has apparently set up in a hotel, and they infiltrate posing as security analysts from the home office, there to test the hotel's security systems.

 

All the agents are skittish of the security cameras, and the guys are only able to get one good still image of Agent Rembrandt. Roger tries to intimidate the hotel security force, which does not go well, and the guys barely get out with the cover.

 

Johnny contacts OCCULUS and sends around the still of Agent Rembrandt. He learns that Faust Force is interested in this person, and he is not to approach in any way.

 

The guys get an email from "bteam911@hotmail.com" and a meeting is arranged for a Denny's off Highway 167 in Kent, WA. At the meeting, a few plans are made for infiltrating the Shoreline campus of Haldemann, near NE 150th St. and 15th Ave NE. The database is readonly, distributed once per day over dedicated lines to three field offices. All updates are handled offline, thus the need for infiltration. hedKase is too well known to disappear from the database, but he will be able to alter biometric information and corrupt other portions of the DB, then it will propagate to the field offices.

 

The B-team has been performing reconnaissance, and show the guys their plan for infiltration. While Jake is making notes on a map of the Haldemann campus, Johnny gets a creeping sensation. He realizes that he recognizes the swirling patten of sidewalks, combined with the odd placement of power and phone lines, makes for an efficient summoning and containment circle. And if his hunch is right, it is set to summon one of the Cthluloid infovores, which feed on information. Like, say, the personal details of thousands of individuals. If these details are specific enough, such as DNA samples and fingerprints, then the infovore may well be able to use it like a "true name" and dial them up long distance to suck up a few souls.

 

The DB is held in Building Delta, while the summoning circle centers upon Building Alpha. The B-Team and the PCs agree to hit the DB in Building Delta, then investigate Building Alpha to prevent any summoning. A last few details are ironed out, then the teams split up.

 

Johnny immediately contacts OCCULUS in Vancouver and asks for satellite photos of the Haldemann campuses. They come back looking very different than Jake's recon results, showing nothing out of the ordinary and definitely nothing that would act as a summoning circle. Johnny drive up to the Shoreline area, and magically hijacks a pigeon to do a fly over. At first it confirms the satellite photos, but as the pigeon descends below about 100 feet in altitude, the campus's appearance shifts to match Jake's recon report. A very subtle persistent glamour covers the whole area. Then, the connection is broken as the pigeon disappears in a puff of feathers. Johnny quickly removes any trace of his magic, makes sure he wasn't tracked, and high-tails it out of there.

[matrix3]

Re: [Campaign] Seattle Underground

 

Back at the WGN offices, Johnny goes into the magical research lab. He sets up the summoning table as a scale replica of the layout of sidewalks and power lines at the shoreline campus, with redundant containment wards around the table. He energizes it, and a small ebon flame erupts right where Building Alpha would be. A moment later, a thin tendril emerges from the flame, feeling around blindly. Careful not to disrupt the wards, Johnny drops a goldfish next to the flame. The questing tendril brushes the flopping fish, and strikes. A thousand hair thin filaments erupt from the tendril, piercing the goldfish as it thrummed with electric pain. Mouth agape, the skin shrivels and crisps as the tendril consumes the small fish. The filaments retreat, leaving a dessicated corpse.

 

Roger is shaken by the miniature demonstration, and Johnny banishes the tendril and vanquishes the ebon flame, then obliterates any trace of the dimensional connection that might remain, minuscule as it may be.

[matrix3]

The guys met with the B-Team at a predetermined location at 0100 hours. They found Jake Danger, Tarot, and hedKase waiting for them, with BoneDaddy already ensconced in a strategically placed sniper's nest. The infiltration went smoothly, with Jake getting them through the fence and hedKase redirecting camera feeds and getting them through the electronic locks. They were greeted with an enormous file vault in a climate controlled room. hedKase informed them that these were copies of files still being fed into the database, with originals held in Area 51. Through the file vault was a door into the server room, and it took hedKase a little longer to get through the electronic security this time, but he eventually won through.

 

Once inside the data center, it took hedKase a little bit again to hack through the security on the servers while Johnny used it technomagic Motorola Q to play with the external security. A guard had discovered evidence of tampering on the fence, but Johnny diverted the security forces with a false alarm at a side gate.

 

Once hedKase cracked the server security, they were confronted with some hard core encryption. Fortunately, hedKase had acquired certain protocols before escaping, allowing them to decrypt the database. Johnny had brought along a 1 TeraByte external hard drive, and started copying over all the data that would fit while hedKase altered his biometrics and corrupted some of the data to cover his tracks. He then backed out, made sure the server was set to push the database to the field offices at 0300 hours, and exited the room. Roger asked how long the data push would take, and upon receiving a response, suddenly pulled a large belt of explosives out of his pack, and set the timer accordingly. He then hid the explosives atop a row of shelves, and followed the group out.

[matrix3]

Re: [Campaign] Seattle Underground

 

The joint team quickly made their way over to Building Alpha, discovering an empty cube farm and some offices. The advanced sensors in Johnny's custom Motorola Q found an anomaly in the wall that led to a concealed stairwell down. Johnny and Tarot made the group invisible and went down.

 

In the basement, the team found themselves on a catwalk above a large vertical ring held within a horizontal ring suspended above the floor. Both rings had arcane script running along their rims. The rings were connected by thick cables to banks of computer equipment along the walls, with a dozen or so lab smock clad figures shuffling between the rings and the computers. One female figure, matching the description of Patricia Haldemann, was directing the others, when she suddenly swung around, looked straight at the team on the catwalk above her, and called for security.

 

The team quickly exited the building, laid a large entanglement ward outside the building, and withdrew. They split up, and the guys were on their way back to the WGN offices when there was a rumble and a glare against the clouds behind them. Ten pounds of C4 leaves a nasty divot.

[matrix3]

Session 2

 

Ok, I just lost the results of lots-o-typing, so here is the condensed version:

 

Johnny looks at the data and finds that there are four classifications of Aberrations: Alphas, to be immediately captured and studied, Betas, under close scrutiny, Gammas, persons of interest and believed to possess powers, and Deltas, persons who are related to people with suspected or confirmed powers. There are no Alphas in Seattle, and only four Betas: Alexander Solonik, Kenchiro Sumitani, Chan Ho Nam, and Socrates Hythenium. The first three are organized crime figures, and there is data in their files from the FBI and interpol. The last is an interior decorator, performance artist, and GLBT activist. Socrates was briefly an Alpha for supposed mind control and illusionary powers, but then was bumped back to Beta after he unwittingly evaded a botched capture attempt. There is extensive debate in his file about whether he has powers, or is merely a talented street magician and performer. Johnny contacts Socrates to redecorate the WGN offices, and finds that Socrates could best be described as a hyperactive Legolas in a Willy Wonka suit with an expensive hair cut.

 

Meanwhile, Roger wants to start a side business providing security. This is just a cover of course, to having his own little army for use against Haldemann in the future. While researching dojos, he has an energetic sparring match with a very skilled martial artist. Due to the combination of natural PD, combat luck, and his armored skin, he never takes any body, but he is stunned briefly after an open palm strike sends him almost 20 feet across the room. He manages to land a solid blow of his own, then yields. When he asks his partner about sparring in the future, he is told to ask around Chinatown for Chan Ho Nam. Roger learns from the instructor that Chan is a big wig in the Chinatown gangs, but learns more from Johnny when he later relates the sparring match.

[matrix3]

Interim

 

We did some work by email here. Roger solidified his holdings in the dojo in Chinatown, and ironed out the details to buy part of a paintball business that had a warehouse sized obstacle course in Renton and was opening another one in Fife. As a co-owner, he is looking to be able to take certain weekends and customize the courses to set up military-style training courses as paintball exercises.

 

Johnny keeps up a dialog with Socrates, and talks with a local representative of the Irish Overseas Occult Directive to see is Socrates could be a Fey instead of an Aberration. He is told that this is a definite possibility. He also gets a response from Faust Force about Agent Rembrandt. Faust Force tells him to not attempt contact, and that they are sending Karl Nikloveitch to investigate. It turns out that Johnny has a history with Karl Nikloveitch, having given him a nickname, Drago (so named after a group of OCCULUS field operatives ended up drunkenly watching Rocky IV after an interorganizational team-building meeting; Nikloveitch’s associates found the nickname hilarious, and the name spread quickly through OCCULUS). There is also some friction because Drago is a Special Forces level military operative and finds Denominator’s lack of military discipline and cavalier attitude irritating in a field operative, while Denominator finds Nikloveitch humourless and demanding.

 

In an attempt to keep his deep cover a secret, Johnny meets with Drago at a small home-brew friendly bar. Johnny discovers that Agent Rembrandt is a match for a missing Faust Force operative, Jan Krieger, who went missing in Toronto, and it is feared that unknown forces could be remote controlling his corpse. Johnny shares any information he has about Rembrandt, including his suspicions connecting Rembrandt to Haldemann. Drago leaves to perform some reconnaisance on the Haldemann campuses.

[matrix3]

Re: [Campaign] Seattle Underground

 

Johnny soon hears back from Drago. Drago's usual support team for covert operations has been retasked to investigate a lead in Venezuela, and may be tied up for several months. He doesn't want to wait that long, so he asks to make use of Johnny's unofficial status to bring in Agent Rembrandt. This is fortuitous, as Johnny had already been scheming how to accomplish just such an objective. Drago has some recon photos of Haldemann and Rembrandt, including a series showing Rembrandt delivering large, reinforced crates to the SeaTac campus.

 

Johnny had been doing some of his own recon. Or, rather, he'd had Cody do it for him, giving free pizza vouchers to any of Cody's homeless friends that had info on Rembrandt's movements. It turns out that Rembrandt and crew had high tailed it for the Shoreline campus only minutes after the explosion.

 

Johnny had possessed squirrels and pigeons to scope out the true layout of the Redmond and SeaTac campuses. He discovered that they also had sidewalks and power lines that sketched out magical symbols. Using what he remembered of the symbols on the two rings in the basement of Building Alpha in Shoreline and what he could discern of the symbols spelled out on the other campuses, he suspected that Shoreline and Redmond were set up to summon and harness extradimensional entities, then somehow direct power into the SeaTac campus. The sigils on the SeaTac campus funnel energy into a central building complex, raised above the surrounding land by three concentric circular terraces. This is the building to which Rembrandt delivered the three large, reinforced crates.